Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1887-02-19

timely wsras From one q (hs rsuess rr,en
Of the American NaeAi Ing ClAasAa.

III tnere pe tnose VINO would array Labor
against Capital, l am not of them nor with
them. IL thero be those who regard the In.
forests Of Labor and OF Capital as naturally or
properly antagonistic, l do not agree with
them. In using the term "laboriug class
or working men," conform to q usage
which has the Recommendation of conveu.
ience and hardly another. In my view,
there should be mono other than laborers,
save the infAntile, the disabled and the dead
and there are not nearly 10 msny non. labor.
es ss IL ruiRArly supposed. The rum seller
Is q worker though TO no good end even the
gsmoier eyinces industry, though to a very
osd purpose. II had the ordering of human
affairs, would have every one nm sppren.
tice OF some sort in youth, a worker for
wages (or something equivalent thereto)
IN early manhood Cor wcmanhood), ana
every one hts or her own employer at a later
stage; 50 that the claAs Of hired workers
should be constantly receiving recruits on
one SIDE and dismissing skilled, experienced
persons TO enter upon grave responsibilities
on the other. would have every Journey.
man realize that he will soon be an employer
every employer remember that he WAS once
lourneyma as his son (if son he have)
Will soon he and I believe the influence OF
these templations would he sslutsry on all
alike l do not like to hear a man boast that
ne mas peen hireling these twenty or thirty
yearS and expects to remain such til death
iot tnough II be true that no man should be
ashamed Of . humble position, | qualify the
statement by the proviso that he has had no
iAr opportunity to rise above it true man
Will much prefer to shoulder hoi or sweep
streets rather than eat the bread OF idleness
aud dependence; but, either sur political In
sntuoons are mistakes, or hale two. handed
person, who has not bean pulled down by
una'oidapie misfortune, shorld lie ashamed
thst, having had twenty years control OF his
own time and faculties, he still nnds hod-
carrying or street-sweeping the b,st thing he
is asked or enabled to do. If | had had a
isir chance TO do for myself for even twenty
ment than the rudest and coarsest day.lsbor,
l should accept the situation. but not be in.
clined to brag OF it
Ls5or may be so wretchedly misapplied as
10 produce no wealth at all the ruins OF
ancient capitals like Tadmore Thebes or Pal.
myra are not capital, and can be made to
yield little or no wealth the pyramids cost
| vast amount OF labor, vet have no pecuni-
AIRY value the remains Of the coliseum or OF
| Pompeii have very little. fully concur in
tne assumption that prodisals lavish OK.
Penditure no more contributes, in a large
view, to the relief Of poverty than to the In
| crease OF national wealth. The drunken
| idiot or maniac who sows the street with dol.
| lars TO be scrambled for by the mob, does
not befriend-he rather debauches-his scuf.
Ting, struggling, shouting followers. l fully
insist that he who makes and saves, though
| already possessed OF vast wealth, is . greater
| poheiaStor 70 INC poor tn0n though ne were
content TO riot, spend and sQusnder.
l And though man is frat i'm PEELED to labor
by the squirt OF material want the movement
| ontlasts the impulse In which it originated.
The m!ser tolls, and schemes and saves, with
an eye single to his own profit or aggrandize-
ment; but commodious public halls, grand
hotels breezy parkA vast libraries noble col.
leges are often endowed in his will or
founded on his wealth. Whatever the past
has bequeathed for our instruction, civilizs-
L YaS inc arNa ant SNs
us by the saving, thrifty. proyident minority
OF vanished generations, many Of whom were
despised and reviled through Life as absorbed
in selfishness and regardless OF other than
personal ends. How many OF those who
fippantly disparaged and contemned him
while he lived have rendered to mankind
such signal, abiding service as Stephen
Girard or John Jacob Astor.
Yet, when poets, philsnthrop!sts and di
| vines have said their worst Of II, the love o.
personal acquisition remains the main spring
OF most of the material good thus far sch OF
on this rugged, prCsaic planet Columbus
wearily bearing from court TO court his ear
nest petition to be enabled 10 discover new
world. insisted on his claim to be made here
ditary lord high admiral OF that world, snc
to title OF all the profits that should flow
from Its acquisition. The great are rarely u
great or the good 30 good that they choose L
labor and dare entirely for the benefit o
others while, with the multitude, persona
advantage Is the sole incitemelt TO continu
Gus exertion. Mans natural love of ease AM
enjoyment Is only overborne, in the genera
| case, by his consciousness that through eifor
| and seli-denial lies the way to comfort apC
ease for his downhill of life and a more for
tunats career for his children. Take ava,
the inducements to industry and thrift al
forded by the law which secures TO each tn,
ownership and enjoyment OF his rightfu
norance, even Christendom would rapidly re
/ lapse into utter barbarism.
! Civilization Is founded on accumulated
capital aud systematic labor. 1t cannot dis
diligently and efficiently through each day
yet, II they spent as fast Is they earned, civ
| ilizsd society must perish, and human exist
ence be maintained with difficulty, If at all
The bar room loaier who decries capital coulc
not survive the next hard winter without il
aid. He lives through the inclement season
| on that which others more proyident hsy,
saved and stored against Q time OF need. Fl,
may or may nor render an equivalent but IL
the absence o! capitalists opportunity to max
the indispensable trade would be wanting
There is none 30 poor or wretched that capi
q tai earned and owned by others have not al
ready saved him from perishing OF want, ..
1t will do again and again. Capital Justly
friend, smoothing the ruggedness and les
sening the discomfort of even the most for
lorn and hapless career.
First OF mans material Interests, most DOR
yading, most essential, is labor, or the EN-
ployment Of human faculties and sinews tr
create, educe or shape articles required by
his needs or tastes. Though Providence i,
benignant and Nature bounteous, 30 that h
was possible, in the infancy Of the race, tina,
| the few simple wants Of Q handful of ssva9es
might be fitfully, grudKing!y satisfied from
| the spontaneous products OF the earth and
though a thin population OF savages is still
| enabled to subs:st ON Q few fertile tropical
! islands, without regular, systematic industry
their number being kept below the poini
| OF mutual starvation by lncessant wars, by
| cannibalism, by infanticide and by their un.
| bounded licentiOusness-the rule Ia all but
inexorsble that human existence, even, ia d 9.
| pendent on human labor. To the race gem er.
| ally, to smaller communities and to indiyid.
uals, God prefers the stern alternative, work
or perish Idlers and protligates are con.
stantly dying out, leaving the earth peopled
mainly by the offspring OF the relatively in.
dustrious and frugal Philanthropy NAV
drop tear by their unmarked graves but
the idle, thriftless, improvident tribes and
classes win nevertheless disappear, leaving
the earth to those who. by planting as well
ing, irrigating, fertilizing and beautifyi1R the
earth prove themselves children worthy oI
her bounty and her blessing. Even III ali
things were made common, and the idle wei.
coined to perpetual feast upon the prod ucts
OF the toll OF the diligent, still the former
would rapidly pass away, leaving fow de-
scendants, and the children of the latter
would ultimately inherit the earth.